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Report: Foundation at SugarHouse casino site not colonial
By Jennifer Lin
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
It's not Batchelor's Hall, probably just a house from 1873.
That is the conclusion of archaeologists hired by SugarHouse Casino to investigate a foundation unearthed two weeks ago on the 22-acre property where the slots parlor is to be built.
But the 15-page report filed yesterday with the Army Corps of Engineers did not change the mind of local historian Torben Jenk. He has insisted for months that an important building from 1729 - a club for educated men called Batchelor's Hall - stood on the site.
SugarHouse needs a permit from the corps to build its casino on the waterfront property on North Delaware Avenue, between Northern Liberties and Fishtown. As part of the application process, the corps must decide whether the company has done a sufficient historical review of the property.
The process has been fraught with controversy because the first study by the company's consultants failed to mention that a small British fort was located on the site in 1777. Jenk, a Kensington building restorer and local historian, brought that fact, along with supporting maps, to the attention of the corps.
Jenk prodded the company to excavate for Batchelor's Hall. On Nov. 10, using a map and coordinates that Jenk provided, archaeologists found parts of a foundation.
Judson Kratzer, the principal investigator for A.D. Marble & Co., the archaeological consultants, said the remains were a 19th century residence.
"A.D. Marble remains convinced that Batchelor's Hall was never located on the SugarHouse property," he wrote to Terrence McKenna, the project construction manager for Keating Consultants L.L.C.
Kratzer said the foundation was for a smaller building and the construction was "not consistent with an eighteenth-century construction date."
He added that there were no artifacts recovered that could date the structure to the mid-18th century.
"Investigating the supposed location of Batchelor's Hall, as claimed by Mr. Jenk, was conducted as a courtesy to the consulting parties and to test Mr. Jenk's theory based on his and others' interpretation of local history," he said.
Kratzer recommended that no further archaeological work be necessary. "The belief that remains exist for every single residential, commercial and industrial activity that has taken place on this land over the past 350 years is pure folly," he said.
Responding to the report, Jenk said in an e-mail, "They just claim 'not here' but never give any evidence or idea where Batchelor's Hall stood."
He said the foundation walls were "exactly to the foot" where a survey from 1804 said Batchelor's Hall stood.
"We have never found original plans or drawings of Batchelor's Hall," Jenk said, "and that is why the archaeology is so important."
As the next step, an archaeologist with the corps and experts from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will review the report and pass along their conclusions. "From that point, we will consult with them on the way forward" in terms of the historical review, said Ed Voigt, a corps spokesman.
By Jennifer Lin
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
It's not Batchelor's Hall, probably just a house from 1873.
That is the conclusion of archaeologists hired by SugarHouse Casino to investigate a foundation unearthed two weeks ago on the 22-acre property where the slots parlor is to be built.
But the 15-page report filed yesterday with the Army Corps of Engineers did not change the mind of local historian Torben Jenk. He has insisted for months that an important building from 1729 - a club for educated men called Batchelor's Hall - stood on the site.
SugarHouse needs a permit from the corps to build its casino on the waterfront property on North Delaware Avenue, between Northern Liberties and Fishtown. As part of the application process, the corps must decide whether the company has done a sufficient historical review of the property.
The process has been fraught with controversy because the first study by the company's consultants failed to mention that a small British fort was located on the site in 1777. Jenk, a Kensington building restorer and local historian, brought that fact, along with supporting maps, to the attention of the corps.
Jenk prodded the company to excavate for Batchelor's Hall. On Nov. 10, using a map and coordinates that Jenk provided, archaeologists found parts of a foundation.
Judson Kratzer, the principal investigator for A.D. Marble & Co., the archaeological consultants, said the remains were a 19th century residence.
"A.D. Marble remains convinced that Batchelor's Hall was never located on the SugarHouse property," he wrote to Terrence McKenna, the project construction manager for Keating Consultants L.L.C.
Kratzer said the foundation was for a smaller building and the construction was "not consistent with an eighteenth-century construction date."
He added that there were no artifacts recovered that could date the structure to the mid-18th century.
"Investigating the supposed location of Batchelor's Hall, as claimed by Mr. Jenk, was conducted as a courtesy to the consulting parties and to test Mr. Jenk's theory based on his and others' interpretation of local history," he said.
Kratzer recommended that no further archaeological work be necessary. "The belief that remains exist for every single residential, commercial and industrial activity that has taken place on this land over the past 350 years is pure folly," he said.
Responding to the report, Jenk said in an e-mail, "They just claim 'not here' but never give any evidence or idea where Batchelor's Hall stood."
He said the foundation walls were "exactly to the foot" where a survey from 1804 said Batchelor's Hall stood.
"We have never found original plans or drawings of Batchelor's Hall," Jenk said, "and that is why the archaeology is so important."
As the next step, an archaeologist with the corps and experts from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will review the report and pass along their conclusions. "From that point, we will consult with them on the way forward" in terms of the historical review, said Ed Voigt, a corps spokesman.
